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Colorado lawmakers rethinking rules around legal pot sales

by Take Two

Marijuana saleswoman Marissa Dodd (center) talks to a customer about different varieties of marijuana available at the Dr. Reefer marijuana dispensary April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Reefer is one of several legal marijuana dispensaries in Boulder, and sell their different varieties of marijuana to anyone possessing a medical marijuana card issued by the state. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

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It's been a little more than four months since recreational pot became legal in Colorado to those 21 and older.

Initially, many critics expressed fear that legalizing the drug would lead to a spike in crime. But according to new data from the Denver Police Department, violent crime actually fell by nearly 7 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Property crime dropped by more than 11 percent.

Even so, some incidents with possible connections to edible marijuana have raised concern among Colorado residents and lawmakers. For more on this we're joined by Colorado based reporter Nova Safo.

So what effect might these incidents have on Colorado's experiment with legalized recreational marijuana?

For an answer to that, we spoke earlier with Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy at UCLA School of Public Affairs, and the author of the book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs To Know."

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Take Two, exclusively on 89.3 KPCC, 89.1 KUOR and 90.3 KVLA in southern California, and on 88.9 KNPR in Las Vegas, captures the spirit of the West in a conversational, informal, witty style and examines the cultural issues people are buzzing about.